Storing coffee beans and ground coffee correctly
Many people enjoy starting the day with a cup of coffee. This article will teach you how to store coffee beans and ground coffee so that they keeps their distinctive aroma.
The key points
- For the best possible aroma, you should only store coffee beans for a couple of weeks.
- Grind the beans at home yourself.
- Coffee beans keep for around two months.
- Coffee beans can be stored for up to 12 months in a bag with a valve.
- Ground, vacuum-packed coffee keeps for around six months.
- The ideal temperature for coffee is room temperature.
- You can freeze coffee beans and ground coffee. Coffee can be stored for 12 months in this way.
Storing coffee beans and ground coffee correctly – list of contents
Storing coffee beans
Once coffee beans have bean roasted, they should ground and enjoyed while they are as fresh as possible. As well as the freshness of the beans, freshly grinding them is also important, as this prevents aroma from being lost.
It is recommended to only stock up on a couple of weeks’ worth of coffee beans so that you do not have to store them for too long.
If you are willing to disregard a loss of aroma, you can store coffee beans for longer. The beans can be kept for around two months. Coffee beans can be stored for around 12 months in a bag with a valve. Ground, vacuum-packed coffee keeps for around six months.
Coffee doesn’t just taste good – it can also have positive effects on our health and mood. Read more about this in our article “How healthy is coffee?”.
Storing coffee correctly
Coffee quickly loses its aroma if the beans or ground coffee are exposed to oxygen, moisture, warmth, or light. This means that you should store your coffee in airtight packaging in a dry, dark place.
Coffee beans retain their aroma longer than ground coffee. Regardless of which option you choose, coffee should always be stored in its original packaging. Transferring the coffee to another container makes it lose flavour quicker, and also poses the risk of fats from the coffee depositing on the rim of the container and becoming rancid.
You can place the original packaging in an airtight and odour-neutral ceramic container to provide additional protection for your coffee from external influences such as odours.
It is best to store coffee at room temperature. The optimal temperature for storing coffee is between 16 °C and 22 °C.
Storing coffee in the fridge and freezing coffee
Coffee beans and ground coffee should not be stored in the fridge. The moisture which occurs in fridges can lead to mould formation, spoilage and loss of flavour.
Brewed black coffee, on the other hand, can be stored in the fridge for a few days and then used to make an iced coffee, for example. Once milk or cream has been added to coffee, it should be drunk within a few hours.
Unlike fridges, freezers are suitable for prolonged storage of coffee beans. The dry cold preserves the flavour, and an airtight container prevents the beans from being contaminated by odours.
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